I was not suggesting that new theatres (or even old ones) add a marquee…but taking a well placed and working one down makes no sense to me. Disagree with me all you wish. My opinion isn’t going to change. AMC is now Chinese owned and, well…I’ll just leave it at that…but I seriously doubt they are actually losing money regardless of what they report.

Most of the movie theaters I go have never even had a marquee. I love how it looks on vintage theaters, but its no longer necessary. I get that you don’t like it, but most people don’t mind or don’t care. AMC is losing money, and if they are going to reduce operating costs, I’d rather they do it by eliminating marquees than something that actually lessens the experience inside.

To Jeff Platt: Evidently, you are some sort of authority on this subject. Regardless. I totally disagree with you…and for your info, according to the staff at the theatre, I am far from the only one complaining about the removal of the marquee…and frankly, I don’t give a flip about the AMC Logo.

not really as this location has reserved seating and most movie goers use online ticketing now.the few theaters who still have them just swapped them to always maving the message to call them or visit there site for showtimes. AMC is just straight out replacing the old marquees with new AMC neon signs with the gold circle background under it.

Once more…I still say taking down the highly visible marquee at the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset Blvds in West Hollywood was just plain stupid. It did NOT show feature times but it did provide info to thousands of people driving by as to which films they were showing. Since this theatre doesn’t even bother to provide info in newspaper or other print publications, the only way to discover their current attractions is the computer I consider that short-sighted.

Ovation was the only brand that Carmike had the abilty to expand without extra royalties like the Bogart’s or was blocked by contract terms as was the case with Sundance as Sundance Group sold the theaters under that condition. the setup of both the Sundance locations and the movico locations caused AMC to create an express version of the dine in brand as both lack normal dine in setups.

Carmike acquired the Sundance Cinemas chain from Sundance Group on October 6, 2015 Basically Carmike made it a 4th brand but all the standard consumables were Carmike branded and the locations sold and refilled the Carmike popcorn bucket.
http://deadline.com/2015/10/carmike-buys-sundance-cinemas-1201568351/
carmike had this one restriction from Sundance on the use of the name “Carmike can continue to operate the theaters using the Sundance brand but can’t use it elsewhere.”

Jeffpiatt. Yes upgraded and new locations are now handled by the lcd screens in the box office. I was just pointing out that some locations like AMC and Regal on 42nd st in NYC, AMC Universal Hollywood, and the Alamo Drafthouse in Kansas City do have a digital marquee in front of the building. Remenicent of the old marquees that are being replaced.

AMC corporate is removing them as part of the “new branding alignment” the CEO decided to start after buying Carmike and decided having 7 brand names on the locations was going to get confusing. the main mission is to get every AMC owned theater to get an AMC neon sign installed. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170301005839/en/
they decided to standardize on three brands that act as feature set concepts. Dine-in locations have full commercial kitchens on site, “AMC” locations have the extended hot foods menu and are getting the full location upgrades first. Classic is a discount first run brand for smaller low traffic locations and have more discounts for rewards members mainly reusing the better ideas of Carmike.

CTCrouch is right. Showtimes variy daily now major releases will have more time on weekends with lesser films haveing fewer. Additionally with reserve seating now becoming the norm searching showtime online and via smart phones is the primary means for people to find the movie they want to see. This leave an externally small number of people actually show up at a movie theatre not knowing what to watch. The need for a marque to advertise a movie at a particular is no longer nessisary. On the other had, a small of locations are getting digital marquees that will advertise a particular movie but not the time.

Not that I agree with the non marquee approach, but the idea is generally:
Less maintenance costs – Annual replacement of bulbs, periodic repairs, regular cleaning, and replacement of aged/broken tiles. The replacement of bulbs and repairs are often quite expensive, as a specialty vendor is required.
Less time/effort in keeping the marquee up to date – Titles and showtimes (for those who utilize the marque for times) change far more often these days. Where once it was a weekly (or greater) endeavor, now it is often a daily change.
Accuracy/liability/professionalism issues – Some titles are controversial, some require abbreviation due to length, there are human errors (spelling, incorrect info, etc.), weather and vandalism alterations, etc. All of these factors can result in potential problems for the operator.

Removing the marquee on the front of the complex is as stupid as any move I’ve ever seen done to a theatre. I’m guessing management didn’t want to budget to have a person make the necessary changes as presentations changed. DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW THE DECISION TO REMOVE IT WAS REACHED?

1 Depends on the showtime for that policy at AMC. it looks like currently this location has it for all films.https://www.amctheatres.com/movie-theatres/los-angeles/amc-dine-in-sunset-5
2. AMC ,is keeping for this year the tuesday discounts but requires you have a Stubs card to get them. https://www.amctheatres.com/carmike

Is it still age 21+ to see a movie? This was Sundance’s most asinine policy, I assume it was in order to promote their booze sales. (Tho considering their booze prices I’m sure they made more profits selling the overpriced liquor than whatever movie ticket sales they gave up.)

And is bargain Tuesdays gone? IMHO that was one of the only good things about the Sundance Sunset 5. (That, & also filmmakers & actors often appearing opening weekends to promote their new films).